Net Promoter Score
Aussi : NPS, Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend a brand, then subtracting detractors from promoters.
What It Is
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric based on a single survey question: "How likely are you to recommend this product, service, or company to a friend or colleague?" Respondents answer on a scale from 0 to 10.
Responses are grouped into three categories:
- Promoters (9 to 10): Loyal enthusiasts who keep buying and refer others.
- Passives (7 to 8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic, vulnerable to competitors.
- Detractors (0 to 6): Unhappy customers who can damage your brand through negative word of mouth.
The score is calculated as:
NPS = % Promoters minus % Detractors
The result ranges from -100 to +100. Passives count toward the total respondents but do not directly affect the score.
Why it matters
NPS gives marketing leaders a simple, comparable signal of customer sentiment and growth potential. Because it is standardized, it can be tracked over time, benchmarked against competitors, and rolled up across regions or product lines. A rising NPS often correlates with retention, repeat purchases, and organic referral growth, which lowers acquisition cost.
Its simplicity is also its limitation. NPS tells you *how* customers feel but not *why*, so it works best paired with follow-up questions and other metrics.
How it is used in practice
- Relationship NPS: Measured periodically (for example quarterly) to gauge overall brand loyalty.
- Transactional NPS: Triggered after a specific interaction (purchase, support call) to assess that touchpoint.
- Closing the loop: Teams follow up with detractors to resolve issues and with promoters to encourage referrals or reviews.
- Segmentation: Scores are broken down by persona, plan tier, or channel to find where loyalty breaks down.
Concrete Example
A SaaS company surveys 200 customers. 120 respond with 9 or 10 (Promoters), 50 respond with 7 or 8 (Passives), and 30 respond with 0 to 6 (Detractors).
- % Promoters = 120 / 200 = 60%
- % Detractors = 30 / 200 = 15%
- NPS = 60 minus 15 = +45
A score of +45 is generally considered strong. The team would then read open-text comments from detractors to prioritize fixes and ask promoters to leave public reviews.